Team Alpha
by TopazDragon7
Summary: After the defeat of the Peacekeeper, Astro has been set as Metro City's official protector. But how will he react when he finds out that there may be other heroes like him and he may have to lead them? When Astro meets an ordinary girl going through everyday struggles, trouble soon arises, and he will have to face his biggest challenge yet. Please review!
1. Prologue

_**I know, I know, I shouldn't be writing another story without completing the first, but I couldn't help myself. The idea of this story just popped into my head and I'm like: OMG GOTTA WRITE THIS DOWN! So yeah, here it is!**_

_**Astro: By the way, guys, if you haven't checked her other story out, which is Astro Boy 2: Destiny's Core, then I suggest you read it, because one of her OC characters from the story is going to be in this.**_

_**Me: Hey, no spoilers, Astro!**_

_**Astro: Geeze, calm down, I'm just letting them know.**_

_**Me: I've got my eye on you, mister…**_

_**Astro: *facepalm***_

PROLOUGUE

A tall, dark figure stood gazing out of the large window, looking up at the star-filled sky. Behind him, a kind-looking man waited anxiously for something to be said. He glanced nervously around the room, watching the three small shadows that stood far off to his right. His two sweaty hands were clamped tightly together, his thumbs twiddling around each other as if fighting for territory. The man hoped he wasn't in trouble – after all, he hadn't been president for long, and this unusual meeting was new for him.

"I assume you know why you're here, President Logan," said the darker man, turning towards him.

"N-no, not really. Do you think we c-can put some lights on? It's awfully d-dark in here," Logan replied, shuffling his feet. He didn't normally stutter, but this room had an uneasy atmosphere which made him terribly uncomfortable.

"It's better that this room remains in the black. I mustn't have anyone knowing that we are in here, and I don't want anyone listening in on what will be said. Speaking of which, you three are dismissed." The man gestured to the trio of shadows, and the president watched them disappear into the darkness, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. The only source of light in the room was projected by the full moon, which flooded the floor with a calming sea of brightness, making Logan feel at least a little better. There he could see a single desk with only a laptop and several files spilled on the surface.

"If I may ask, why use such old-fashioned technology? Surely a holo-computer would be better? Or a holo-desk?" Logan asked, pointing to the half-open laptop.

"Many people these days have no idea how to use them anymore. It's like a child getting a new toy. Pretty soon they'll forget the old one they had, and soon the new toy will end up just the same when something better comes out."

"Oh."

The president felt slightly stupid in having the shortest response in history. He admitted that this man truly was clever, but he'd have to be if he wanted to keep his 'spy' company in business.

"But anyway, back to the point."

"Which is?"

"My posse of inexperienced 'agents'."

"Ah, that. But why does this involve me?"

"Your city holds possibly the world's greatest creation. Do you have any idea how many people would want to harness that power and use it against the human race?"

"Are there really that many heartless souls out there?"

"Yes, and my naïve team are having trouble understanding what they have been assigned to do."

President Logan wondered how on Earth they could be failing. Then again, he'd never met them and had only heard about them and their progress over the holo-phone.

"And what about this robot that you've been talking about?"

The dark man paused, obviously thinking carefully about how he should reply. Upon his face soon shed a look of disgust. He clearly wasn't pleased with the current topic.

"He knows nothing about his origins, including who built him. He didn't even know his name or if he was ever given one. He chose one himself, of course, but it is still unknown if he ever had any real programming."

"I'm guessing his training isn't going so well?"

"No. He is completely clueless in combat and is still unsure of anything he might be capable of."

Logan took a sideways glance over at the door the three shadows exited at. He still didn't know who they belonged to. Bodyguards, perhaps?

"You still haven't answered my question completely. Why am I being brought into this?"

"I want to know if you would keep a secret from the city, even if it meant putting it in danger."

Logan was mortified. Betraying his fellow citizens was the worst possible thing he could do. Why, he wouldn't even be worthy of the title he'd been given as president. If he lied and kept secrets from those who trusted him, there goes the whole "prosperity and peace" slogan.

"Are you crazy?! If I was to put the city in danger, I'd be-"

"What's about to happen is bigger than both of us and the city combined."

The president clammed up, wondering what the big fuss was about. How did this guy know what might become of Metro City?

"Whatever my team does I need you to cover up, especially if they disobey orders or do anything stupid. You're also the best I know when it comes to political ideas, and that will most definitely come in handy when I need the sufficient intel to make sure everything goes smoothly and without fail."

"How do I know I can trust you? Keeping the city safe is my top priority, and I'd hate to have to make changes that the residents may disagree with."

The man turned away from him to gaze back out the window, and there Logan could clearly see some of the features on his face. He held a mysterious expression, as if he was willing to hide any information about him.

"…President Logan, what's your biggest fear?"

He took a while to answer that question. He was worried that this man would do something terrible to the city, so he had to choose his words carefully.

"Well, I'm not sure… I guess it's losing the city to some evil lunatic."

"Then that is why you can trust me."

Logan watched the man walk over to the desk and press a small blue button. The room suddenly seemed to change to a different atmosphere, though it was still unsettling.

"What's that?"

"If your hero is to succeed in protecting the city, he must be kept well trained and busy. Especially if he wishes to prove that humans and AI robots can co-exist." The both of them saw a large government robot zoom past the window and into the city. The president could tell it was loaded with weapons of all kinds. The man picked up one of the files scattered on the desk and handed it to the anxious president, giving him a stern look. "It has been an honour having this conversation, Mr President."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Astro Boy held his shoulder as he stood over his unconscious enemy, panting heavily. He looked around himself at the half-destroyed buildings and battered-up cars. Although most of the people in Metro City were clapping and cheering, some of them sneered at the damage of the battle. He couldn't help it if the bad guy always tried to destroy everything; there was no possible way of preventing even just a scratch. He picked up the robot he'd just fought and flew off with it somewhere to be properly taken care of. He then activated his rocket boots again and flew back towards the penthouse of which he lived in, along with his father and head of the Ministry of Science, Dr Tenma. Astro was glad that he was able to live a good life, but unfortunately he never usually had a good day. There was always trouble arousing on the streets, and it was up to him to keep the city safe. He landed on the balcony and entered, greeted by the friendly service-bot known as Orrin.

"Good evening, Astro!" he greeted as the super-robot set foot in the living room.

"Hey, Orrin!" Astro replied, giving a small wave. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he'll be home soon. He had to work extra for his new project."

Astro sighed and sat down, turning on the TV. He flicked straight to the news to see if anything was worth checking out before switching to the regular channels. The woman who was broadcasting the news suddenly popped up, giving an urgent report.

"_We now bring you live where an unexpected rescue took place. No one knows what it is or where it came from, but earlier this evening a black and gold figure rescued approximately twenty-three people trapped in a large fire that took place inside the Metro City Hotels building. Investigators are still searching for the source of the fire. Witnesses and survivors were questioned on this phenomenon, but all the answers received resulted with no lead."_

"Rumour has it that it's an alien!" cried a high-pitched voice that came from behind Astro, making him jump.

"Zoran! How many times to I have to tell you: stop startling me like that!" Astro replied, looking back at his little robotic sister.

"Hahaha! You mean scared!"

"Whatever."

"Anyway, that thing that keeps rescuing everyone is said to be indestructible! It sounds so cool!"

"I highly doubt that, and I don't think it's from outer space either."

"Well, you have competition at least. It rescued more people in one day than you did in a week."

"What?!"

Zoran giggled and hopped over the couch to sit beside her big brother.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you something! Dad's going to be upgrading me so I can fly just like you!"

"Whoa, really?"

"Yup!"

She looked down at her feet and swung them back and forth in excitement. She always wanted to be a hero just like Astro. She wanted to be famous and have people look up to her; living in the limelight sounded so dreamy. She stood up and skipped to her room to continue playing with her pet. Real animals were quite rare since the Surface became polluted, but with Astro's help the forests and rivers were beginning to form again. He switched to his favourite movie channel and watched several films before finally going to bed. He looked out the window and over the city, gazing at the cars and flashing lights going busily by. He flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes, hoping that the next day would be less stressful.

"Axis, on your left!" cried a young girl about the age of fifteen. She took out a long whip and lashed it out at a robot's arm, pulling it out of the way of an incoming projectile.

"Thanks, Electra," the robot replied, getting back on its feet and firing masses of bullets out of its arm at a bulky war-robot. Holes were soon engraved into its chest and it fell to the floor, exploding on impact. "Ha! These piles of junk are too easy."

"Don't get over-confident now! We got more coming!"

The girl pressed a button on the handle of her whip and it soon lit up with bolts of electricity, lighting up the dark room that the two of them were in. She thrashed the rushing robots with the flexible and deadly weapon, not only knocking them back but also sending electrical charges through their metallic bodies. The robot on her side knocked away an incoming punch to her face, sending the enemy flying backwards.

"The only ones getting over-confident are these guys!" the robot stated, activating a pair of rocket boosters in its back and hovering in the air. The rest of the war-robots didn't even come close to defeating the pair, and soon enough there were scattered and destroyed robot parts littered everywhere.

"You ok?" the good robot asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. A few scratches here and there, but this needs to be reported back to HQ. Whoever is making these robots needs to stop," the girl replied, turning off the electricity in her whip and rolling it up to place it on her belt. Her red hair was beyond tangled and would need a serious brush. There was a long pause before the teenage robot spoke.

"Hey, Electra, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it, Axis?"

"Am I the only humanoid robot fighting crime for the well-being of the world?"

"I don't know. There probably are others, but I think you're the closest-looking robot to a human that could ever exist."

"It's just that, well…earlier today, in Metro City, I overheard some people talking about a robot called Astro Boy."

"Astro Boy? Ha! HQ will want to hear this!"

"Morning, Dad!" cried Astro and Zoran in unison as they saw their hard-working father enter the kitchen.

"Good morning, you two," Tenma replied, sitting down and eating his breakfast Orrin had ready for him.

"So, when are you going to upgrade me? I can't wait!" said Zoran, impatiently jumping up and down.

"Hopefully sometime today. I'd like to get it over with so you'll stop constantly talking about it."

The four of them chuckled and went back to their usual business. Astro opened up the panel to his blue core and checked that everything was functioning properly. Once he was satisfied, he turned on his eye-lights to examine the rest of his internal circuiting before going out to do his regular flight over the city. He waved goodbye to his small family and took off, diving down the tall building. He really wanted to check out that hotel that was on the news. He thought it would be something for him to do anyway. The fire in his boots turned to a bright blue as he cascaded through the air, almost breaking the speed of sound itself. He had to slow down once he levelled out to the same height of the buildings, so as to not disturb any robots cleaning the windows or finishing construction sites. Mere seconds had passed before he reached the burnt hotel, and he entered quickly so masses of his fans wouldn't come screaming after him. He pushed aside a fallen beam and ducked under another that was hanging by a thread from the ceiling. The dark grey ash piles drifted silently in the air as his shiny red boots walked by, disturbing small embers that lay on the ground. There were scorch marks everywhere on the walls and floors, and several parts of the plaster had already given way both above and beneath him. It was amazing how anyone could've survived something like this even before they were rescued. He slowly stepped over a stack of fallen bricks and proceeded into another set of corridors, where he found a bunch of investigators doing their thing. Before any of them noticed him, he side-stepped into the room to his left and quietly closed the still-intact door behind him. When he turned around, he was shocked to find that the room he was in was completely untouched by the once-raging flames. It was a small bedroom with a single bed hunched up against the wall, and had a desk and wardrobe standing beside it. The rough carpet was a dark green and the walls were a typical beige colour. A small table-lamp was sitting on the desk and was turned on, lighting up the whole room. Astro looked around and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, glanced down at something small on the floor. It was a silver-coloured bracelet, from what he saw. But as he bent down and picked it up, it looked more like a watch, except with no actual numbers. It was just a blank screen with several buttons situated next to it. Maybe it had no battery power? He clipped it on his wrist and snuck out of the bedroom; the last thing he wanted was a bunch of detectives asking him what he'd found and why he was there. When he finally came to rest on a nearby skyscraper, he decided to inspect the strange watch closer. He pressed the middle button under the screen, and a hologram of someone suddenly appeared out the top – someone who looked like they meant business.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Are you saying that you know this 'Astro Boy'?" Electra asked the Director of HQ.

"Well, he _has_ been the talk of Metro City lately," Axis added.

Clyde Godrick, the Director, replied with, "Indeed. You are not alone, Axis. He is a highly advanced super-robot that has been keeping the city safe for the past seven months. He is extremely powerful and is a force to be reckoned with, so I suggest you leave him to us."

"And how do you know that he's even going to find your message, let alone have someone else find it?" protested Electra.

"Oh, he will. In fact, he has it right now."

"WHAT?!"

"It may take some time for him to figure it out, but he will come to us eventually. He just needs encouragement and an example of what this company can do."

Electra and Axis looked at each other and then exited the lecture room once they received dismissal from Godrick. The two of them walked down to the training area and into the gymnasium, grabbing their gear for practice. They stood face to face and held a stance, waiting for one another to make the first move. Electra soon advanced on Axis, lurching forward to deal a heavy blow to the robot's face. He quickly lifted up his arm to block the attack, and in turn he brought up his leg to kick her wherever he could. She jumped in the air and performed a three-hundred and sixty degree spin, keeping one of her legs out to hit him at least somewhere. The robot was knocked back and caught off guard, and he soon found himself being pinned to the floor after receiving many punches to his body.

"You may have rescued over twenty people from a burning building, but you _still_ need major training," she said, standing up and exiting the training room.

Astro stared at the figure in the holographic message with curiosity, and waited patiently for him to begin speaking.

"_Greetings, Astro,"_ the message began. "_If you are hearing this then listen closely. Right now my identity shall remain hidden, should this be in the hands of the wrong person. I'm sure that you are aware of the many threats surrounding our world, and you may not be able to take all of these on yourself. There are others like you – some human, some robotic, and together they join forces to do what they must to save mankind. So I'm offering you a choice. You'll know when the time comes to make this decision. I greatly look forward to your response._"

With that the hologram was sucked back into the wristband, and Astro stared ahead in confusion. Choice? Decision? Others like him? He needed more information. He was going to find whoever that was and get the answers he felt that he deserved.

"O-kaayy…that was weird… This whole idea of others like me sounds interesting though, and I bet that the black and gold creature has something to do with it," he said to himself, standing up and looking down to a clock that was displayed on a nearby building. "Uh oh! Better head home before Dad leaves for work!" He leapt off the roof and hurriedly made his way back to the penthouse. He wanted to at least say goodbye to his Dad before he left for the whole day. Maybe even the whole night. When the balcony was in sight, he quickened his speed until he came to a grinding halt, skidding on the smooth tiles and into the living room. Too late. Dr Tenma had already let the elevator doors close behind him, along with Zoran so she could be upgraded. Orrin was nowhere to be seen so Astro decided to try something else. Knowing that the elevator overlooked the city as it ascended and descended, he took off back outside and circled the building until he came to the elevator chute. He deactivated his rocket boots to begin his fall, and he soon reactivated them to catch up with the super-speedy lift. Once his sister and father were in sight, he made sure that they noticed him before waving goodbye to them.

"See ya later, Astro! Haha!" cried Zoran as she waved to her smiling brother.

Tenma sighed with glee. Ever since he built Astro, life had never been the same, and he enjoyed not having to worry about losing his son again. The two of them watched the young robot fly off into the distance to do what needed to be done. While Astro was beneficial for the future of both the city and Dr Tenma, the scientist still wished he could have his old son back. The blue core had made Toby's personality less rebellious, along with a few different likes and dislikes. When he said to Elefun that fateful night that the blue core would make his robot perfect, he had no idea that "perfect" would be taken quite literally. Astro had possibly the most humanity out of anyone in the world. Zoran had once asked him a question, which was, "Say the most evil person in the world was about to die – would you save him?" Astro replied with a most definite "yes", which was a first for his little sister. She had asked many people the question and all of them had said "no". The super-robot didn't care who it was; he believed that everyone deserves a second chance. He realized that when Hamegg was about to be killed by Zog. He may have done wrong to many robots, but he didn't deserve to die for it. At first Astro thought he was just trying impress Cora and the others to get them back on his good side, but as he saw the aircraft coming in to take him away, he asked himself what his purpose was. At that moment his thoughts were being overrun by images of his father, and it wasn't until long he realized that he could do right for as many people as possible. Dr Tenma soon realized this too after the defeat of the Peacekeeper. The death of his son brought forth the hero that the world needed. Astro Boy made everyone happy and he made sure that they stayed safe, never wanting them to live in fear. Recently Dr Tenma had begun building more robots like Astro: ones with hearts, souls and minds of their own. But this led to many people rising up against AI robots, saying that they were too dangerous and could take over the human race if they got the chance, besides stating the fact that they had no purpose without programming. But of course Astro reassured them, and the riots died down. He smiled as he flew through the city, waving at passing trains and cars. Even if he had no programming and still had the memories of Toby, his purpose was to protect the city no matter what.

_**I couldn't help writing that last little bit. I just wanted to express Astro and Dr Tenma's thoughts and feelings through the way I saw it, and I think it's beautiful. :')**_

_**Astro: Wow, you're actually getting all teary.**_

_**Me: Aww, come on. You can't say you didn't like it.**_

_**Astro: Ok, ok! I praise you on this!**_

_**Me: Yay! *Hugs Astro***_

_**Astro: Release...the…death…grip…please…**_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Astro stopped abruptly when he heard screaming coming from around the corner. He didn't hesitate to see what the matter was, and he dashed round to find a horrifying sight. A corner of a skyscraper had broken off and was plummeting towards the ground at a terrifying speed. At the base of the huge building Astro noticed that much of the debris that had already fallen had trapped a young girl's leg, preventing her from escaping the soon-to-be crash-site. There was no time to get the pieces of concrete off her and move her away from the area, so he had only one choice: he had to catch the mass of rock and metal that was about to crush her. He had only a thirteen second window before it hit the ground, so he activated the thrusters in his boots to dive down at maximum speed. The girl looked up and closed her eyes, moving her arm out in front of her as she braced for impact. Her breathing slowed as she felt nothing fall on top of her. Was she dead? Was it really over that quickly? She lowered her arm and opened her eyes to find a teenage robot in red boots and black spandex shorts standing between her and a five-hundred tonne mass of skyscraper.

"Are you…ngh…ok?" he asked her, straining to keep balance of the object he was holding. The girl had dark brown hair trailing down to her hips and emerald green eyes, full of shock, surprise and fear. She looked about thirteen or fourteen years of age, and she nodded slowly. Astro looked around himself for a place to put the bit of skyscraper down. He noticed that all the people and even the robots were too frighted to help, for fear that Astro may drop the colossal lump. He gritted his teeth as the weight became unbearable, but he held his position for the sake of the girl's life. In an attempt to help, she continued to try and pry herself free. After many failures, she looked back up at the hero, not sure what to do.

"I'm stuck! I can't get out myself!"

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of this."

They both gasped as smaller bits of debris began pummelling the onlookers, sending them running. Someone was doing this on purpose to see what Astro would do. It was either one life or many others. Astro and the girl's eyes met once again, and the expression on her face begged him not to drop it. Tears began streaming down her face – no one could free her while Astro was struggling to keep her from dying. His eyes shot open to their full extent when he felt a heavy shudder on the piece of the skyscraper, making him have to use one hand to support himself as he collapsed to the ground. His face was brought right up to the girl's, and she seemed to blush a little. The super-robot strained to bring his arm back up to the fallen corner, and he tried desperately to stand back up straight. Something was making it heavier, and Astro was determined to rescue the girl and find out who was causing this. It was then he got an idea. Sure it may have been reckless, but the area was cleared of people and robots that could get hurt, so it was the only option he had. He took away one arm and activated the arm cannon in it, aiming it straight up at the mass of skyscraper. He charged it for a few seconds and then released, sending the plasma blast catapulting through and completely destroying the super-huge piece of collapsed building. He crouched over the girl and shielded her from anything that might fall on top of her. She brought herself up closer to him for greater protection and closed her eyes, waiting for it to all end.

When all was quiet, the two of them opened their eyes and looked around themselves. Smashed-up rubble now populated the streets, with added dust clouds and smoke shrouding the area. The girl coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to waft away the dust threatening to fill her lungs. Astro backed up a little to finally free her leg, and she hugged it tightly when he lifted up the last piece that held her down.

"How's your leg?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"I think I'm just lucky it's not broken. Oh! I'm Aurora by the way," she replied, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Aurora. I'm pretty sure you know who I am."

"Yeah, the world-famous Astro Boy!"

"I wouldn't say I'm 'world-famous'…"

"Don't be silly. Of course you are!" Astro chuckled and helped her up. _Ok, Aurora. Just play it cool. Don't say or do anything stupid,_ she thought to herself. All her life she wanted to meet her robot hero, and now he'd actually saved her.

"Do you think you'll be fine from here? As you can see I have a bit of a mess to clear up…"

"Can I help? I feel at least a little responsible for this, since I'm the reason you had to do that."

"Ok, you can help. Just don't strain yourself and let me do the heavy-lifting, alright?"

"Sure thing!"

Many cleaning robots and police officers soon came by and helped with the clean-up too. Aurora carried as many stones and pieces of rubble as she could over to a dump truck, and Astro brought over the bigger debris that many of the robots couldn't handle. One of the officers noticed that Aurora was the only civilian in the area, and he walked over to her to ask her to leave.

"Excuse me, miss, but I'm afraid you can't be here," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, sir. I have Astro's approval!" she replied, hoping that he'd let her stay.

"I'm sorry, but orders are orders. Come along, now."

Aurora moaned and followed the officer out of the site, looking back to see Astro watching her go.

"Bye, Astro!" she called out to him.

"Until next time, Aurora!" he replied, waving.

_Next time? OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!_ she thought, barely containing her excitement. Though she may have nearly been killed that day, it sure was the best day of her life.

Axis sat down in his seat with a huff, sulking like a vulture on a hot day. He was disappointed that Godrick didn't listen to him about the skyscraper incident that day, and how he thought that it might be a lead to the recent fires and robot outbreaks. He also wasn't happy with the fact that Astro Boy had been there and dealt with the issue. All Axis wanted was to prove he was ready for a proper mission, and now there was this other robot that could possibly do his job better than him. Electra came up beside him and tapped at his metallic shoulder, sitting down next to him.

"Don't be such a grump. You can't expect Clyde to let you go on every task possible."

"Easy for you to say. I can't believe I've been here longer than you and you're already still beating me in training."

"Maybe whoever built you didn't realize you needed fighting programming instead of your own mind."

"Why you little…! I ought to-"

"That's enough, you two," said Godrick, coming out from the room beside them.

"Yes, sir," the bickering pair said, standing to attention. They still exchanged angry glances at each other.

"Watching Astro deal with the building incident this morning was very interesting. He could prove to be very useful, even for you two. His intellect allows him to get out of any situation, and he doesn't react without thinking, either. You could learn a lot from him, and that is why I want you to meet him in person."

"WHAT?!" cried Axis, clenching his fists.

"You can't be serious! That robot's barely a newbie! He practically knows next to nothing about combat!" Electra added.

"But he has a lot more experience out in the field than he does in mere training. He could be a very valuable addition to the team. Oh, and by the way, Xenon will be returning tomorrow. You are dismissed."

The two left the room, grumbling to themselves.

"So, who's the grump now?" Axis mocked.

A few seconds later, all that could be heard around the carrier were the sounds of metal colliding with the walls, along with many painful yells from a certain robot.

Astro face-palmed after Zoran and her new rocket boots smashed head-first into the trees around the park, and several times Astro had to grab hold of her feet and dig his heels in the ground to stop her from knocking over people that were passing by.

"Focus, Zoran! Focus!" he instructed, a slight hint of frustration in his voice. He knew that it took some time for _him_ to get used to it when he found out he could fly, but then again he wasn't taking nearly as long as Zoran was.

"I'm trying, ok?! WHOA!" she replied angrily, spinning out of control and shooting up into the sky.

Astro sighed and followed, sticking close to his sister. Maybe it was better that she was up in the sky, considering there was more room and Astro was able to help her easier. He flew directly over her and grabbed her arms, straightening her out. He kept her level until he was certain she could maintain balance by herself.

"Ok, now close your eyes and concentrate on your feet. You should start to get a feel of how the circuiting works," Astro said, making sure that she wasn't about to ram into anything that just so happened to be in the sky. Zoran did as told, and she tried picturing what the insides of her new rockets looked like while they were working.

"I think I've got it!" she cried, opening her eyes and diving downwards, performing several tricks as she did so.

"Hehe, not bad, Zoran! You only took twenty-six minutes longer than I did to learn!" Astro teased.

"Oh, shut up!"

She angrily chased after her brother, but he was far too fast for her. As soon as the fire in his boots turned blue, there was no catching him.

"Ok, now let's see what you've got!"

Astro slowed down so his little sister could follow him around the buildings and roads, performing many corkscrew dives and somersaults. Zoran copied his movements and stayed close behind him, but she soon realized that was a mistake when she noticed that she couldn't see where Astro was headed. He made another swift dive towards the big Metro City Stadium, and for poor Zoran it was too late to follow. She rammed right into a flagpole that was sticking out the side of a building. The sheer force of her smacking into it made it snap, and she clung to it as she fell, too stunned to realize what was happening. Astro looked behind him after hearing the loud clang of metal, and he flew after his falling sibling. He pried her off the pole and slowly brought her to the ground.

"Are you ok?" he asked, seeing the pole hit the ground from the corner of his eye.

"I think so," Zoran replied, rubbing her stomach where she'd hurt it.

"That wasn't bad for your first flight, anyway."

"You think so? Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

Astro smiled at her and helped her back into the air, and they were soon heading for home.

The afternoon sun boiled down on the carrier as a pair of black boots with a cobalt flame pattern around the bottom entered through the cockpit. Xenon's hazel-coloured hair bore several striking royal blue highlights, and it was combed backwards away from his face, making it slightly spikey in the middle. He wore a black jacket with a golden robot emblem on the back, and his undershirt too was black with a blue circuit pattern all over it. He had baggy navy blue slouch trousers with a cyan colour threading vertically down the sides. His blue-grey eyes were scanning the deck for his teammates, and he let out a sigh after catching no glimpse of them. He soon came to a stop in front of Clyde and looked up at him.

"Welcome back, Xenon. I assume your mission went well?" Godrick greeted.

"Yes sir, and it's good to be back. Where's Axis and Electra? I can't wait to see how their doing!"

"They're in the main control unit room. Follow me."

Xenon eagerly followed, being the excited-but-can-easily-hide-it fifteen year-old. He specialised in mainly long-range weaponry, but melee attacks he needed more training on. Godrick led him down him the main corridor until they came to the control room, where many of the agents were busy handling the flight controls and managing all the files. Xenon soon spotted his friends down by the front of the room, gazing out the massive window.

"Hey, guys!" he cried, making them both turn towards him.

"Xenon!" exclaimed Electra, running over to him with Axis.

The three of them hugged each other, for they hadn't seen Xenon for almost five months. They each went into the training room to practise fighting so they could catch up a little. Once inside, Xenon and Electra held their stances in the ring. She knew he wasn't the best at physical combat. _Or maybe it's just boys that suck at fighting. Including robots,_ she thought to herself, glancing over at Axis who was hitting a punching bag with brute force. Xenon stepped up towards Electra and tried to punch her in the stomach, but she blocked it and kicked him in the shin.

"So…how did the mission go? GAH!" she asked, continuing to block Xenon's attacks.

"WHOA! Easy there!" Xenon replied, only just dodging a blow to the face. "It was successful, more or less. GRAA!" He grabbed her oncoming fist and pulled her forward, failing to deliver a knee-kick to her stomach. "Professor Yan-kin was taken down, and I received the information that he was going to use against the Navy. I sent it to Godrick and claimed the mission a success." Electra front-flipped over him and kicked him in the back, knocking him down.

"It probably wasn't easy, though, right?" asked Axis, walking over to him and helping him up.

"Sort of. The hacking and figuring out Yan-kin's plans was the fun part. The fighting? Yeah, now _that_ was difficult. …Is it me or have you been upgraded since I left?" Xenon replied, noticing that Axis looked a little different.

"Yeah, I got a few new modifications and weapons."

"Awesome!"

Axis's main body was slightly silver in colour, as was his face. His arms and his legs were jet black with a few silver patches, and he had two black spikes on the sides of his head, of which were also black. His shoulders were spiked and his arms were equipped with a large array of many different guns and mini missile-launchers. On his back was a pair of rocket boosters which he flew with. He had a golden pattern on his forehead that consisted of two lightning-bolt shapes on the sides that connected along the bottom, and in the top centre was an arrow-head shape. From a distance it looked a little like a pitchfork head, but up close it was almost a work of art. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow and held a sense of mystery in them. After all, no one knew where he originally came from, not even Axis himself knew. The same gold colour weaved in between some of the gaps on his arms and legs, creating a cool pattern all over him. His feet were made to look like he was wearing boots that came up to his knees, but more metallic than leathery-looking. Electra came up and tapped on his arm.

"He hasn't been _that_ interested in his new 'toys', but they _do_ make him look cooler."

Electra had hazel coloured eyes that matched well with her little-past-shoulder-length red hair. She wore a dark purple skin-tight body suit that had no sleeves, despite the material reaching down to her feet. She had white high-heeled boots on as well as white arm-length gloves to match. She was not the average girly-girl one might expect her to be, but once people got to know her, she was a serious tomboy. Her gloves were made of a special rubber so she didn't get accidentally electrocuted by her whip, which occurred once or twice before she got her "superhero costume".

"So, have you improved on your training, Axis?" Xenon asked.

"Not very much, believe it or not," Electra answered, much to the robot's annoyance.

Xenon tried hard not to laugh, but he couldn't prevent a quiet giggle from escaping his mouth.

"Ok, so I may be a little rusty right now, but in a few days' time, I'll be able to beat both of you at once, just you watch!" Axis said, gaining a little too much confidence in himself.

"And _there's_ his cocky side," said Electra, rolling her eyes and leaving the room with the two of them.

Zoran sat next to her father while he ate his dinner. The coloured pencil she had in her hand was crazily scooting across the piece of paper she was drawing on. After a satisfied "Mmhmm!" she put the pencil down and grabbed a different colour, repeating the process she was doing a few seconds ago. Astro pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, busily looking at his holo-pad.

"What are you doing, big brother?" Zoran asked, pausing to look at whatever Astro was looking at.

"Research," Astro replied, tapping a few areas on the screen.

"Oh. What're you researching?"

"…Stuff."

Dr Tenma chuckled to himself. That was the exact same excuse Toby used whenever he didn't want his father knowing what he was looking at. Maybe Astro wasn't so different after all.

"Stuff?"

"It's complicated, alright?"

"We're robots; since when is anything complicated to us?"

Astro hesitated before answering. His little sister had a good point.

"Ok, well, if you must know, there have been recent reports and sightings of that creature that's been on the news. Apparently it's some kind of humanoid robot with Artificial Intelligence, just like us."

"So there's a chance it still came from space?!"

"I still highly doubt it, but yes."

"That is so cool!"

"Hey, Dad, you haven't made any robots similar to the reports, have you?"

Dr Tenma put down his knife and fork and turned to face his robotic son.

"I shouldn't think so. I don't normally make black and gold AI robots that go around anonymously saving people."

"Hmm…"

"I just think that Astro's _jealous_ of it," Zoran teased.

"Hey, being jealous is the last thing that I'd be feeling about this!"

"Astro's right. He would never be jealous of anyone or anything. The blue core wouldn't allow him to," Dr Tenma added.

Zoran sighed. When her father built her, he had used some of the blue core's energy to power up her artificial one, which Dr Elefun had graciously created. She knew what it was like to have some of the positive energy flowing though her, but in order to project her design to the computer so it could make her look like a female version of Astro, not only did Dr Tenma have to use some of Toby's DNA, he also had to use someone else's DNA to give her a female gender. So technically she _was_ Astro's little sister. Since she shared another girl's DNA sequence, her personality was quite hyper and energetic, so her father had to reduce her strength to half that of Astro's. The alternate sequence also gave her negative energies, but the energy from the blue core kept her emotions from going haywire – literally. It was true that Astro could feel anger, but not in the same way people would think. The anger that flowed through him was toward his enemies, but he could control it so it wouldn't get the better of him. It never lasted long anyway, since he was so forgiving.

"Are you going to do something about it, anyway?" she asked, referring to the mystery robot hero.

"It depends. First I have to find whoever it is, and then I'll have a lot of questions to ask," Astro replied, putting down his holo-pad. "I'll start with my usual night rounds, checking around the city for anything unusual."

"Alright, be safe, Astro," said Dr Tenma.

"I will!"

"Bye, Astro!" said Zoran, giving her brother a hug.

"See ya later, little sis!"

Astro turned to the balcony and ran towards it, leaping off the edge and diving down the building. Once near the bottom, he activated his rocket boots and shot off into the heart of Metro City.

Axis let his legs dangle over the edge of the skyscraper he and his teammates were sitting on. The night air always seemed so calm in the city, not stressful like it was up at the carrier. Electra fiddled with the end of her whip out of boredom, and Xenon wouldn't shut up about his recent mission.

"And with those guys gone, it was easy to infiltrate Yan-kin's main labs to obtain the USB drive that contained the information on the latest missile target systems that were-"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!" Electra hollered. Xenon forgot how easily ticked-off she got. "DON'T YOU THINK WE'VE HEARD ENOUGH?! WE DON'T NEED EVERY LITTLE DETAIL!"

"Ok, ok! Gosh…"

"Just calm down, Electra. Xenon's probably been dying to tell us what happened while he was away," said Axis. He stared up at the clear sky, gazing at the stars that glittered amongst the darkness. "Besides, we're not here to argue."

"We know, we know. We're here to find Astro Boy and somehow convince him to come to the carrier," Electra finished.

"Exactly, and Clyde put me in charge."

"Then why aren't we doing any 'finding'? Kind of boring just sitting around and doing nothing if you ask me," Xenon pointed out.

"Clyde said that Astro Boy flies around the city at night, keeping a look out for any trouble on the streets. So what I'm doing is waiting to catch a glimpse of him, so that way he'll be easy to follow."

"Well there's no doubt that Astro will be looking for you, too," said Electra, putting her whip away.

"Why?"

"Word on the street is that he's trying to find out who's been rescuing all those people and then mysteriously disappearing afterwards. Now I wonder who that could be?"

Xenon and Axis both knew that Electra had a habit of being sarcastic, and the strange thing was that she always made sense out of it.

"Hmm, true."

The three of them sat in silence until they heard a distant sound of rockets. Axis got up immediately, knowing who it was. He activated the boosters in his back and took off toward the sound. Electra and Xenon sighed. They both took out a small gadget and threw them onto the ground, waiting for them to fold out into a pair of hover-boards. They hopped on top of the devices and made sure that their feet were tightly secured before taking off after Axis. The black, gold and silver robot was getting closer to Astro, and soon enough, Axis had him in his sights.

Astro was enjoying the night air whooshing past him, and so far all had been quiet and peaceful. He had his arms by his side, having no need to place them in front of him. After the battle with the Peacekeeper, he felt a lot more confident with his flying, and he could soon navigate in the tightest of places. He turned sharply around a building and watched the ongoing cars zooming up and down the roads. His cheery smile vanished when he heard another pair of rockets behind him, but when he turned to look back, he couldn't see anything following him. As he flew, the sound got louder and louder as it got closer and closer, and the next time Astro looked behind him, he saw a black and gold robot gaining on him, closely followed by two teenagers on what looked like hover-boards. Astro was familiar with people around his age trying to get to him, but he knew that the robot that was with them was the one he'd been looking for, so there was no way that they were fans of his. He flew upwards and around a building, soon diving back down again. If he had veins, adrenaline would have been rushing through them, mixed with emotions of confusion, excitement, and fear. Loosing these guys would be easy, since Astro knew the city like the back of his hand, but he didn't know if the robot had special tracking technology, so he had to make his decisions carefully. He weaved in and out between the buildings and often did double-takes to confuse his pursuers. He kept close to the bright lights of the skyscrapers in the hopes to blend in and be harder to spot. When he was certain he lost sight of them, he landed on a nearby building and breathed a sigh of relief. _What on Earth would they want with me?_ he thought, knowing that the black and gold robot was chasing him out in the open where people could see it. _Wait a second… What was it that that guy said about 'when the time comes to make this decision'…?_ Astro shook himself of the thought and hunched up against the wall on the top of the building, looking around him to see if he was being followed still.

Electra and Xenon soon caught up with Axis. He wasn't too far behind this so-called "Astro Boy".

"Hahaha! Is he seriously wearing only shorts and boots? They don't even match!" Electra cried, laughing her head off. Xenon laughed as well once he realized what she was talking about, but they continued to follow Astro and Axis despite the funny comment. Axis wasn't going to give up easily, and he copied the same swift manoeuvres that Astro performed as he tried to get away. He soon realized that he had no knowledge of the city whatsoever, and Astro Boy was using that to his advantage. He followed him downwards where they were more level with the buildings, and the mass of many coloured lights blinded Axis and hid his victim surprisingly well; the fact that his eyes were sensitive to light wasn't exactly coming in handy, and they made his vision fuzzy and distorted. He breathed a sigh of relief when the lights began to dim, signalling that they were reaching a more quiet part of the city. He caught sight of Astro Boy again, heading upwards to a pretty tall building. After circling around it for about the fifth time, Axis couldn't see the super-robot anywhere, and he stopped completely in mid-air. He couldn't even hear Astro's rocket boots anymore, so he must've landed.

"Ok, so randomly chasing the guy isn't going to get us anywhere," said Electra, hovering behind Axis.

"No kidding. He knows this city and we don't," Xenon added.

Axis groaned and landed on the skyscraper that they were next to.

"Maybe this requires a tactic that doesn't involve a wild goose chase," Electra suggested, hopping off her hover-board.

"Such as…?"

"A stealthy approach may be best. The next time we see him, Xenon can have a tracker ready to shoot onto Astro."

Xenon nodded in agreement, stepping down beside her. If he was going to get to use some form of gun, he was happy. Axis continued to think for a moment however, completely ignoring Electra's idea and Xenon's snort of annoyance. Suddenly, he clicked his fingers and leapt into the air, hovering just in front of his friends.

"I got it! Maybe if we can figure out where Astro Boy lives, we can easily disguise one of you two to meet him in person!"

"And just how do you expect us to stroll right in? We don't know if his home is a VIP building or something," Xenon stated, shrugging his shoulders.

"And why would he see a random person? Surely he wouldn't have time for that," Electra added.

"And that's what perfectly good excuses are for. We could make out that we don't come from Metro City and our remote town or something is in danger!" said Axis, getting a little too excited.

"Seriously? That plan is way too predictable. If we want his attention, we have to make a crime scene of our own in this city," Electra replied as if it was the only option and it had to be done.

"Um, no. Not only would we get in trouble with Clyde, but don't you think the city would be pretty mad at us?" disagreed Xenon.

"He's right. Causing trouble in the city would only make him hate us, along with everyone down there. We need a plan that will get his attention _without_ a raging mob behind our backs," said Axis. Electra and Xenon sat in silence, not being able to think of anything. Then Axis got a brilliant idea; something that he'd been doing for quite a while and was sure to get Astro Boy's approval.

"YOU JUST LET THEM GET AWAY?!" Zoran shouted so loudly that the whole city could've heard her. When Astro returned home, he told his sister and his father about what happened.

"Well, first off, please don't yell that loud – some of us have very sensitive hearing, you know?" Astro started, covering his ears.

"Sorry."

"And second of all, there were three of them, and I didn't want to cause trouble. Besides, I have no idea what they're capable of, so I think it's going to be best just to study them from afar until I know what they can do."

The family sat in silence at the couch, the person on the TV completely muted by the power of the remote control. Dr Tenma picked up some files that were spread across the table and shuffled them as he skimmed through each page.

"Oh, by the way, Astro, I'm going to be gone for a few days. I have important business at the Ministry with President Logan, so I'm going to be enrolling you and Zoran into Metro High to keep you busy and supervised," he said, standing up and grabbing his coat.

"Oh, cool! I've never seen a school before! This is going to be so fun!" cried Zoran, jumping up and down and making a cushion fall off the couch.

"Wait, you're leaving now? This late?" questioned Astro as he picked up the cushion. Zoran stopped jumping and whimpered.

"I'm sorry, you two, but the meeting of which I will be attending has been delayed several times today, and it can't be rescheduled to another day, so it has to be now or never."

Astro sighed. "Ok, I understand. Isn't this going to be your first personal meeting with the new president?"

"Yes, and that's why I can't miss it. I hear he's a big fan of you apparently too, and he is very eager to meet both of us, so I wouldn't want to disappoint him."

"Logan's a fan of mine? Wow, it sure would be great to meet him!"

Dr Tenma nodded and headed towards the door. "Goodbye, you two. I'll be back as soon as I can." He pressed the button and waited for the elevator to reach their floor. As the doors opened and before the scientist could step in, Astro scooted over to him and gave him a hug. Zoran hadn't noticed since she was so engrossed in the TV which had been turned back up.

"I love you, dad," the robot boy said softly.

"I love you too, son," Tenma replied.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Aurora sat on her firm mattress, gazing at the photo frame she held in her hand. She let out a long, sad sigh. Even thought she'd been rescued by her hero not too long ago, she still suffered the same depression she felt just before that. The picture behind the thin glass consisted of her and her mother and father when she was six. But now, at fourteen, her parents seemed to forget she was even there anymore. She did everything herself as if she was an adult already, but she was barely a teenager. But it didn't matter anymore anyway. She would be gone in a few days, and she'd never have to see her careless parents again. She took one more glance at the photo, closed her eyes as tightly as she could and promptly threw it at the wall, smashing it to pieces. She didn't care how much noise she made. Heck, her "parents" didn't care either. They were always mad whenever they _did _take any notice of her. She got up and walked over to her window, stepping over the glass shards and not even bothering to look down at them. She opened the window up and rested her arms on the frame. Oh, how she wished she could just sprout wings and fly far away. She felt as if no one cared for her, not even Astro Boy. Not personally, anyway. Sure he may have rescued people, but did he really care how they felt? If he did then did he randomly visit people who were going through hard times and give them some friendly advice? He may as well give them some chocolates and a magical unicorn if he did. She looked behind her and glanced at her Astro Boy-poster-covered walls. A wave of anger surged through her, and she darted over and began stripping them off the walls. With each torn piece, she scrunched them up and tossed them in the bin. She paced hastily around the room, kicking several things on the floor as she did so. She sat on her bed, her face buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. She listened to the _tick, tick, tick_ of her dying alarm clock, and for a few brief seconds, it was all she could hear besides her own thoughts rushing through her mind. It was then she heard the police sirens sounding below her window. She slowly lifted her face away from her hands and toward the open window, standing up from her bed and walking over to it. She leaned her head out and looked left and right down the street. The police had only pulled over a speeding driver, and the problem was already dealt with in a matter of minutes. She watched the cops drive off back to the station, and she closed the window back down as she did so. _Heaven help me,_ she thought with a sigh.

Zoran practically pulled her brother out of bed, shouting the usual "get up now" command. She could hardly wait to go to school and see how many new friends she would make. Life at home all the time was super boring. Astro wasn't at all that excited. He was used to school since having the memories of Toby, but he had a feeling that things would be a little different now, considering he'd started this whole superhero gig. He rubbed his face as he got up from the floor and watched Zoran bound out of the bedroom, giggling to herself. He lumbered sleepily over to his wardrobe and picked out something suitable for Metro High, since his shorts and boots wouldn't be appropriate at all. As his eyes scanned the different clothes, he hoped that someone would bring out a new trend soon, since all the usual colours were getting so boring. He chose his usual white t-shirt with the red stripe, and a pair of black trousers with a blue pattern down the side. Shoes were never a problem anymore, since his red boots couldn't come off. He wondered what the students would think of two robots being enrolled to study there. He shook himself of the thought, but he still wondered if there was such a thing as robot racism. He might not get bullied because of it, but Zoran was still vulnerable to mistreatment. She didn't even know what bullying was, so he hoped everyone would like her. After slipping on his outfit for the day, he turned towards the mirror, immediately glancing at his hair. Never again would he have to gel it every morning. Oh well. It was annoying to do it anyway. He ran out into the kitchen where Zoran was already busily packing her bag. Orrin came wheeling over to Astro and handed him Toby's old school bag, still full of all the stationary. He sat down with the bag in his lap, taking out the lunch box that Toby used to eat from. Food. Just another thing Astro wouldn't ever experience again. He sighed and asked Orrin to place it on the table, hoping that his father would deal with it when he came home. Once Zoran finished with her bag, she grabbed her brother's arm and pulled him over to the balcony, ready to jump off just like she saw him do it. He chuckled and leapt off, his sister not far behind. The two of them activated their rockets and shot through the city, heading for Metro High. Astro guessed that it was kind of easy being robots, considering he didn't have to do much to get ready and he could also get there quicker, so long as he didn't have to stop to save someone along the way.

When they finally reached the school, Astro breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he could actually have a peaceful morning. In terms of hero-duty? Of course. Publicity? Not so much. Zoran bounded over to the front doors and opened them wide. They were quite early and not many students had arrived yet, but loads of them still lined the hallways at their lockers. Astro came up beside his sister, wishing he'd brought a hoodie to cover his face so he wouldn't be recognised. Would it be too late to go back and get one? _No, surely they'd know me if they saw me with my sister,_ he thought, trying to look inconspicuous. He slowly walked over to where Toby's locker used to be, remembering how he was often stalked by the bullies that peered from the sides. Zoran followed him, waves of anxiousness beginning to flow through her. Now that she was there, she was actually feeling nervous. She didn't know anyone or the school, for that matter. As soon as someone took notice of them, however, they shouted out Astro's name, and people began buzzing over to them just like bees swarming around a hive. Zoran suddenly didn't like the attention, but Astro was used to this. He got it on the street all the time. Eventually they were able to make it to their lockers after the commotion died down a bit, and Astro was glad there was an empty spot beside his locker so he could keep an eye on his robotic sister. After placing their bags inside, someone came up behind Astro and tried to get his attention. He turned around and immediately recognised the two bulky boys that stood before him.

"Wow, Astro Boy! We're huge fans of yours!" the boy in front said.

"Hey, Michael. Hey, Zack," Astro said rather casually, not bothering to smile. He did cheer up however when he saw the looks upon their faces – the sheer shock of their hero knowing their names was far too amusing for him.

"H-how do you know us?" said Zack, standing a little behind Michael.

Astro resisted the temptation to roll his eyes, knowing that these two had brains the size of peas. "I remember you two from several months ago. Or rather, _Toby _remembers you."

"Uh, T-toby?" Michael stammered.

"Yeah, the one you two bullied almost all the time?"

The two bullies' eyes widened, remembering that they were speaking to Toby's robot copy. Astro couldn't believe they forgot that he had all of the thirteen year-old's memories, despite being legally fourteen now. He was glad that he could actually defend himself now though, but he had to do it without harming anyone, since not having the freedom of hitting back. Zack and Michael were utterly speechless – Astro wondered whether they'd say something hurtful in their defence or just apologize and walk away. Surely they must've known they'd have no chance against a super-robot. Would he forgive them though? They really hurt Toby when he was still alive, and that hurt was a part of Astro too. Maybe he wouldn't forgive them entirely, but he certainly wasn't going to be mean back. For him, mercy towards his enemies was easy to show, but forgiving bullies of his counterpart he found a lot harder.

"This is awkward…" Zack murmured in his friend's ear. Astro clearly heard it though and did his best to hold back a laugh; having super-hearing was awesome at times.

"We'll, uh… We'll just go," said Michael, shoving his friend down the other end of the hallway.

Zoran burst out laughing once they were out of earshot. That was the funniest thing she'd seen for a while. Astro high-fived her and went back to sorting out their lockers.

"Dang it!" cried Xenon, a loud ping sounding around his room as a cog bounced off the walls. All day he'd been trying to make a tracker-gun in case Axis's "brilliant" plan failed. As he bent down to pick it up, the door behind him opened, making him jump. Clyde didn't wait for an invitation to come in, so he barged straight through to the teenager. Xenon resisted the urge to say, "Hasn't anyone heard of knocking lately?" but he didn't want to disrespect his Director. Or get into trouble, for that matter.

"What are you working on, Xenon?" Godrick asked, eyeing the boy's every move.

"Oh, just a tracker gun, in case my team needs it," Xenon replied, both lying and telling the truth at the same time.

"Hmm, impressive."

"So… What brings you to my five-star acquaintance?"

"You and all your team members are needed in the conference room immediately."

Godrick exited the instant he finished his sentence, and Xenon was left sitting down with a sigh.

_Let me guess, another training session rule-change,_ he thought grumpily. He got out of his chair and left behind his half-completed weapon lying on the table.

When he arrived with the others in their assigned room, he sat down in his designated chair with a huff next to Electra.

"So, what are we all here for, sir?" she asked, trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm.

"I don't like you lot keeping secrets from me. So, what is it you've been planning to do for the past few days?" Godrick demanded.

The team gulped. Someone had obviously been a little careless.

"We, uh…" Axis started. Boy was it hard to lie as a robot.

"W-we're not keeping any secrets! We swear!" Xenon cried.

Electra rolled her eyes, knowing that Xenon was a terrible liar. "Oh, for Pete's sake. We've been coming up with plans to try and confront Astro Boy, so far all of them failing."

"I'm not surprised. You deliberately disobeyed orders when you should have waited for me to give you permission," Clyde replied sternly. Electra's team members threw her looks of _why did you just go and tell him?!_ She didn't care. Godrick knew about almost everything they did, so he would've found out sooner or later anyway. "But anyway, that was only one reason why I brought you all here." The three youngsters each looked at each other in confusion, then looked back at Godrick to see what he had to say. "Astro Boy and his little sister, Zoran, have just been enrolled into Metro High. I'm assigning Electra and Xenon to join the school too, to try a more peaceful approach than just chasing him round the city."

"Hey, why don't I get to go?!" Axis protested, standing up on the spot and slamming his fists on the table.

"Not only do you not look that friendly at all, but you also look like a legitimate robot."

"Don't forget your 'secret identity'," Electra pointed out, sniggering.

Axis moaned and sat down again. Great. Both of his only friends would be gone for most of the five days of the week.

The school bell rang loudly, signalling the end of first period. Astro got up out of his seat and turned his holo-desk off. He grabbed his bag and headed out into the hallway with the rest of the students. He had to find his sister if he didn't want to spend lunchtime sitting by himself, although he'd most likely get crowded with fans. After putting away his bag and retrieving nothing out of his locker, he made his way out into the courtyard to find a suitable spot to sit. He found a secluded bench hidden by some bushes near the back right corner. There he was out of sight from most of the students, and he could get some peace and quiet too. He sat down and rested his head on his arms which lay folded out on the surface. Small flower petals fluttered down and onto the ground from the tall bush above him, and the sunlight beamed beautifully on the spot. His eyes slowly scanned the area he could see from for his sister, but he soon recognised another familiar face. He stood up quite suddenly and took a few paces forward, but before he could get any further to the person, someone jumped on him from behind, followed by several loud giggles. As the girl slid off his back, Astro turned around and the biggest smile formed on his face.

"Cora!" he cried, giving his best friend a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I know, right? How long has it been now?" she replied, flicking part of her black fringe back and revealing another pink highlight in her hair.

"I don't know, but it sure is good to see you again. How've you been?"

"I've been doing pretty well. My parents are practically never letting me out of their sight at home, but other than that everything's fine."

Astro chuckled and brushed a petal off his shoulder that had just rested on it. "And how about the others?"

"Everyone from Hamegg's has been sent to a really nice orphanage in the city somewhere, and they even took Trashcan in!"

Astro shuddered as she mentioned Hamegg, but what had happened was in the past, so he didn't have to worry about it. He was glad that the others had been getting on well too, and he couldn't wait to introduce Zoran to them all. And as if on cue, she came bounding right up to them.

"Hey, big bro! Who's this?" she asked.

"Zoran, this is Cora, my best friend. Cora, this is my little sister. She was built a few months after we last saw each other," Astro replied.

"Awesome! It's nice to meet you, Zoran," said Cora, grabbing the female robot's hand and shaking it.

"It's nice to meet you too!" Zoran replied excitedly.

The three of them sat down and tried to think of something else to say.

"How's your role of being 'Protector of the City' going?" asked Cora, opening her lunch box and munching on a sandwich. "I've seen some of your action on the news."

"You have?" Astro asked. Cora nodded in response. "Well, things have been a little tough lately, I guess. But recently I-"

"Astro's been amazing! He totally beat a bad robot to pieces and taught me to fly and everything!" Zoran butted in.

Astro clamped his hand over her mouth and gave Cora and apologetic look. "Forgive my sister, she has a tendency to interrupt."

"It's ok, I had to deal with that a lot back on the Surface," Cora replied.

"You lived on the Surface? What was it like?" Zoran asked. She picked up a nearby stick and began fiddling with it.

"Well, mostly it was covered with trash of all kinds. We had to scavenge for food and old robot parts just to make a living. A lot of that soon changed when we met Astro."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Oh, all of my friends that I lived with, along with Hamegg, the one who looked after us."

"Cora and the others were all orphans back on the Surface," Astro added.

"Whoa, must've been tough," Zoran said, her eyes widening.

Cora nodded and took a yoghurt out of her lunch box.

"Have you made any new friends here?" Astro asked, snatching the stick away from his sister when she prodded him in the eye with it.

"Yeah. Only a couple, though. Two girls and two guys. They should be here to meet up with me any minute. I guess it's fate that you've found our special eating spot."

They all laughed and waited for Cora's friends. In the meantime, they each talked about their lives for the past few months.

About half way through the lunchbreak, four people arrived at the bench and sat down next to Cora.

"Astro, Zoran, this is Jade, Cody, Electra and Xenon."


End file.
